So, I imagine most of my faithful readers despite being a dedicated lot have decided I am going to never post here again so...I will post this here for me.
Since 4 July 2007 I haven't felt like writing anything, especially anything personal or funny. I am going to make an effort to get that back.
Where am I at these days.
Professionally: I just finished the Army Operations Course. I was basically a hollow husk for what four-five months? Any way it is over, it went well, but still the most irritating and aggravating course I have ever been on. I have to say thanks to Beaz, K4, Satan, and a few bottles of Shiraz for getting me through.
Right now: I am now the Training Officer. And the Acting Ops O... Not much else to say in this forum. Keeping the AOC theme going I gotta do my "estimate".
Physically: This really is the main reason again that I want to start posting here again, mostly because it makes a nice Log that I can follow. And faithful readers can keep pace too. But to bring this Blog up to date:
While on AOC DL (Distance Learning) I hit the treadmill hard. In January I noticed I was very heavy again, and start logging some km on the TM. It paid off. I started following the exploits of some people on RM and got wicked inspired, Kara inspired me too! More on that later.
Anyway, I also picked up a used Trek 100? 1000? Can't remember. It's yellow. I got it just before going to Kingston, and took it with. I got quite a few rides in. Then my back went. (Bike is in the shop I get it back on the 31st of July. Been inspired watching the Tour de France. Can't wait!)
While in Kingston I ran 2 events. I ran a 5km and an 8km, details:
27 April - Limestone City 5km: 23.36 (PB)
1 June - Beat Beethoven 8km: 40:25 (Could say PB, never ran an 8km before, but I was on pace for a huge 10km PB)
I was going to do a couple duathlons, but work, my back, and inability to get around conveniently got in the way.
So where am I at now you ask? Kara and I are planning our 1/2 marathon tour, 3 halfs in six weeks or so. Marathon By The Sea (SJ, NB), Valley Harvest (Wolfville NS), and Legs For Literacy (Moncton).
Kara is running more consistent and faster than ever. And we are both in the midst of our training plans...up to 14km LSDs. I am so happy to see her aggressive and competitive edge coming back...It pushes me, and inspires me.
Right now I am sustaining sub 5:00/kms and trying to sustain 4:30/ kms. We'll see.
I want a sub 22 minute 5km, a sub 50 minute 10km, and a sub 1:45 1/2. Again we'll see.
I feel good and fit...my back is still iffy. It is much better now that I am no longer sleeping on the cheap hammock beds in Kingston. I wonder if my days of being able to sleep anywhere are over !?
Personally: Things are good, Kara and I are training together, doing WW together, and just enjoying me not having to run all over the f'n country/ planet right now. It is nice. The yard and the gardens are coming along nicely...I wonder if we have some before and after pics....? I'll check.
The kids are awesome, new neighbours, lots of kids in the neighbourhood. Girl starts school this year and she is excited for now at least.
Well faithful reader, that sums it up. I make no promises but I want to come back here often,
Scotty...
27.7.08
31.3.08
Scotty's Injury Update
Been a long time...I will be posting with much more frequency in the next while.
A few number of months ago, geez almost a year ago, I developed an issue with my right shoulder. Likely from overdoing the weightlifting while overseas. At any rate it has ranged from slightly annoying to down right paralysing. I have been to the MIR, and was as underwhelmed as Jaimer mentioned in her thread a while back. So I have been following my own prescription of abstaining from weightlifting or other activities like, say- throwing things.
This hasn’t really affected my running, and in fact I was so inspired by following the ATB progress on line I did 16.5 km run yesterday.
I know one of the issues with my shoulder comes from repeated snow shovelling this winter. The most we have endured in some time. Oddly enough despite the near record snowfall (and the most in numerous years) some moron was on the radio bragging about the fact that Moncton was well under budget for snow removal!
Which is obvious given the apparent lack of sidewalks in 3/4 of the city and the width of the streets reduced to half in some areas.
The last while has not helped either with repeated warm days and thaw followed by freezing days and snow. Hence my back yard is a wavy snow covered glacier.
I told you those things to tell you this:
In this area there is a bit of Spring Fever waiting to spring forth. This has been evident in Raven as she has been a little more rambunctious and shedding about 16lbs of hair a day. I think Christmas gifts this year will be hand woven dog hair bath mats.
So today Raven was particularly aggressive with a small stuffed bunny, so me being a thoughtful and dutiful owner took it outside and threw it. This was met with adulation, which I love. And the play went on for some time with Raven first throwing the bunny for herself, and then me chasing her around the yard. At one point I even commented to the Snickering Kara on the porch “Hm, it’s a tad icy!”
A little while later it was time to go in, but Raven was being stubborn about getting her “BUNNY” and decided to lolligag around the yard.
So being the cunning guy I am I made a snowball and tossed it across the yard. Raven promptly dropped the bunny and was gone in a flash!
AHA – I tear across the yard grab the bunny and try to throw it to Kara while I’m o the run. My shoulder decides. “Naw, let’s not.” And the bunny flies pathetically off towards the corner of the house. Simultaneously I hear Kara go “Ewww” because it landed in the mud, and the happy pounding of Raven feet chasing it.
So on the run I make an aggressive move to capture the bunny.
The next moment is seared in pain.
Oddly enough I find myself in the splits. One foot on top of a small bank, the other foot down beside the house. My crotch came to rest about three inches from the concrete corner of the house. I caught myself in the splits, so as to make sure my butt didn’t land in the snow.
That’s when I realize my hamstring and groin are pulled to the point of their tensile strength.
I then hobbled past the no-longer-snickering-but-all-out-hysterically-laughing Kara, and laid on the floor in the house.
Raven came along, sniffing as if to say “Where’d you go?”
I foresee no long term damage…
Not to my pride anyway…that was shattered long ago.
A few number of months ago, geez almost a year ago, I developed an issue with my right shoulder. Likely from overdoing the weightlifting while overseas. At any rate it has ranged from slightly annoying to down right paralysing. I have been to the MIR, and was as underwhelmed as Jaimer mentioned in her thread a while back. So I have been following my own prescription of abstaining from weightlifting or other activities like, say- throwing things.
This hasn’t really affected my running, and in fact I was so inspired by following the ATB progress on line I did 16.5 km run yesterday.
I know one of the issues with my shoulder comes from repeated snow shovelling this winter. The most we have endured in some time. Oddly enough despite the near record snowfall (and the most in numerous years) some moron was on the radio bragging about the fact that Moncton was well under budget for snow removal!
Which is obvious given the apparent lack of sidewalks in 3/4 of the city and the width of the streets reduced to half in some areas.
The last while has not helped either with repeated warm days and thaw followed by freezing days and snow. Hence my back yard is a wavy snow covered glacier.
I told you those things to tell you this:
In this area there is a bit of Spring Fever waiting to spring forth. This has been evident in Raven as she has been a little more rambunctious and shedding about 16lbs of hair a day. I think Christmas gifts this year will be hand woven dog hair bath mats.
So today Raven was particularly aggressive with a small stuffed bunny, so me being a thoughtful and dutiful owner took it outside and threw it. This was met with adulation, which I love. And the play went on for some time with Raven first throwing the bunny for herself, and then me chasing her around the yard. At one point I even commented to the Snickering Kara on the porch “Hm, it’s a tad icy!”
A little while later it was time to go in, but Raven was being stubborn about getting her “BUNNY” and decided to lolligag around the yard.
So being the cunning guy I am I made a snowball and tossed it across the yard. Raven promptly dropped the bunny and was gone in a flash!
AHA – I tear across the yard grab the bunny and try to throw it to Kara while I’m o the run. My shoulder decides. “Naw, let’s not.” And the bunny flies pathetically off towards the corner of the house. Simultaneously I hear Kara go “Ewww” because it landed in the mud, and the happy pounding of Raven feet chasing it.
So on the run I make an aggressive move to capture the bunny.
The next moment is seared in pain.
Oddly enough I find myself in the splits. One foot on top of a small bank, the other foot down beside the house. My crotch came to rest about three inches from the concrete corner of the house. I caught myself in the splits, so as to make sure my butt didn’t land in the snow.
That’s when I realize my hamstring and groin are pulled to the point of their tensile strength.
I then hobbled past the no-longer-snickering-but-all-out-hysterically-laughing Kara, and laid on the floor in the house.
Raven came along, sniffing as if to say “Where’d you go?”
I foresee no long term damage…
Not to my pride anyway…that was shattered long ago.
31.8.07
Joggling
Well, I tried it for the first time.
Joggling that is. Running and juggling at the same time. Well, technically I have done it before while performing, running across the stage back and forth while juggling. However, the actual sport of joggling was new to me, juggling while running a sustained distance.
I was inspired to try this by Michal "the joggler" Kapral, three time world record holder and fellow member of RunningMania.com. I asked him for some tips, which he graciously provided - and well - I gave it a shot. On the treadmill. Why the treadmill?
a) it's where I do most of my running, though the temp outside is getting more bearable.
b) I figured I could work on my cadence and the throwing.
c) No one would see me...not that I am shy but I'd like to be somewhat competent when I "take it to the streets..."
Anyway I juggled - er, joggled for almost a full mile before my first drop. Not bad considering I fiddled with the speed (ranging from 5-7 mph), and the lighting in my basement is the absolute shits for juggling. I slowed the thing down, picked them up and joggled to the one mile point.
It was a great workout, I was concentrating more on my balls than on running....that sounds deceptively bad...I will have to keep working on it...especially during my LSDs...
I think I may have a new hobby. And I think I heard Kara roll her eyes at me somewhere....
Have fun y'all, stay active yourselves...
Scotty
Joggling that is. Running and juggling at the same time. Well, technically I have done it before while performing, running across the stage back and forth while juggling. However, the actual sport of joggling was new to me, juggling while running a sustained distance.
I was inspired to try this by Michal "the joggler" Kapral, three time world record holder and fellow member of RunningMania.com. I asked him for some tips, which he graciously provided - and well - I gave it a shot. On the treadmill. Why the treadmill?
a) it's where I do most of my running, though the temp outside is getting more bearable.
b) I figured I could work on my cadence and the throwing.
c) No one would see me...not that I am shy but I'd like to be somewhat competent when I "take it to the streets..."
Anyway I juggled - er, joggled for almost a full mile before my first drop. Not bad considering I fiddled with the speed (ranging from 5-7 mph), and the lighting in my basement is the absolute shits for juggling. I slowed the thing down, picked them up and joggled to the one mile point.
It was a great workout, I was concentrating more on my balls than on running....that sounds deceptively bad...I will have to keep working on it...especially during my LSDs...
I think I may have a new hobby. And I think I heard Kara roll her eyes at me somewhere....
Have fun y'all, stay active yourselves...
Scotty
29.8.07
First Speedwork
Last night I did my first real effort at speedwork since starting really training again.
I am following Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon Plan, but in this months Runner's World it focused on the Half. In the article and accompanying plan there was a session of speedwork included weekly. I thought adding some speedwork might be a pretty good idea to mix it up and well, maybe improve my runing.
I do almost all my running exclusively on the treadmill. Keeps me out of the humidity and I can set up my laptop and either watch a show or listen to music. The treadmill we have has some decent programs on it that allow for elevation increase and decrease, so I rarely run at a level plane.
Anyway, the scheduled run was for 3.5 miles, just shy of six km. So what I did was the following.
First .5 m was a light warm up, started at 5m/ h and increased .2 mph every .1 miles... confused yet?
any way once at .5 miles I sprinted for .4 of a mile and rested for .1...
0 - 0.5 warmup
0.5 - 0.9 sprint 7.2mph
0.9 - 1.0 rest 4 mph
1.0 - 1.4 sprint 7.5mph
and on until 4 miles topping out at at 8.4 mph.
Probably did nothing but make me tired but felt like a great workout last night.
Ha ha I am not a trained professional, do not try this at home...
I am following Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon Plan, but in this months Runner's World it focused on the Half. In the article and accompanying plan there was a session of speedwork included weekly. I thought adding some speedwork might be a pretty good idea to mix it up and well, maybe improve my runing.
I do almost all my running exclusively on the treadmill. Keeps me out of the humidity and I can set up my laptop and either watch a show or listen to music. The treadmill we have has some decent programs on it that allow for elevation increase and decrease, so I rarely run at a level plane.
Anyway, the scheduled run was for 3.5 miles, just shy of six km. So what I did was the following.
First .5 m was a light warm up, started at 5m/ h and increased .2 mph every .1 miles... confused yet?
any way once at .5 miles I sprinted for .4 of a mile and rested for .1...
0 - 0.5 warmup
0.5 - 0.9 sprint 7.2mph
0.9 - 1.0 rest 4 mph
1.0 - 1.4 sprint 7.5mph
and on until 4 miles topping out at at 8.4 mph.
Probably did nothing but make me tired but felt like a great workout last night.
Ha ha I am not a trained professional, do not try this at home...
28.8.07
The New Truth
Hey Casual Readers and Friends! So how about we go in a completely different direction? We take a departure from thoughts of Afghanistan, and we take a look at something new.
Still with me?
Ok. I joined Weight Watchers. Three weeks ago. Now I have already dealt with the questions from various sources, and of course it makes me feel like I have to justify myself. So I will write out my reasons, not as a justification because I have no need to vindicate myself.
For the past, sheesh, eight years (off and on) I have hovered between 190-200 pounds. I have carried this weight relatively well – and there are periods when I haven’t! My face has been rounder at times; my 36-inch waist pants have ranged from loose to tight. My 32-inch pants have ranged from tight to obscene! Those who have known me a long time will know I have never been a slave to fashion and I have worn my clothes on the potato sack side of loose, so being “a little chubby” is easy to hide.
Here are the beginning stats:
14 August – 188.6. This is lower than 190 because of Afghanistan.
And in no particular order are my reasons:
1) Kara and I have a scale, it is a cool scale that is able to measure weight, body fat, hydration, and a couple other things. I currently, at the start of Weight Watchers, had a body fat percentage over 30%!! This is after a six-month tour in Afghanistan, which saw me going to the gym four to five times a week!! Granted I still made poor food choices, but I should have sweated something off right? Back when I worked at Bridgetown Junior High School the gym teacher there measured my body fat, it was 35%. So considered my weight and appearance haven’t fluctuated that much I have been consistently over 30% for the past decade!!
Healthy range is any where from 18 –25%, a good fitness level 14-17%. Given these numbers it is reason enough for me to do something. Given a bunch of calculations, which I will put in later, at 20% body fat I should get down to about 155-160 lbs.
2) My dad has a fair number of health problems, most of them exacerbated by his love-hate relationship with food. I understand that I have a genetic predisposition to these health issues. But I’ll be damned if I will help them along.
3) One of my big reasons is Kara. She is obviously one of my more favourite people. And she has struggled the last while. She has been through a lot with me away, being a single parent of two small kids. The situation has made it hard for her to build and develop a “no-fail” environment. Especially when in some ways it would mean a complete upheaval of the status quo! But in the past few years she has had tremendous successes and of course some backsliding. I know for a fact that before when she was in WW and I wasn’t I drove her absolutely crazy when I would ask her “How many points for..?” Usually the point value would shock me and then I’d eat it anyway. Leaving her glaring at me for being an asshole. I never really got it.
Or even worse instead of being her support mechanism I would actively (though not truly consciously) sabotage her with pizza and alcohol and, nachos and, and…
So now the two of us have made a commitment to this. We are both happy with this decision. There is still a bit of playful tension as I do have more points than her, which causes some friction considering we eat together most meals. But our partnership in this has led to our current 30 day “challenge” - No Alcohol For 30 Days!! (I say current 30 day challenge because I foresee more) This No Alcohol Policy was inspired by two horrendous binges we shared since my return, which sabotaged her weight again. This is a bit of a sacrifice, since I went six dry months. But it had to be done if we were going to really commit to this.
This Policy will require will power and planning, for example my boss is having a meet and greet and his house this weekend. It will not be a drunk fest but there will be casual drinking. And we will abstain. We can have fun without booze.
Anyway if Kara and I can succeed together it makes the lifestyle changes we make more likely to stick because we both bought into it.
4) Running – I am not sure if this is a reason because I am competitive, or because I am tired of sweating out bacon fat when I run!
Running is both an incentive and a method for my weight loss. One of the ‘lightest’ periods in my life that saw me in the 170s is when I trained for the Fredericton Half marathon and the Cabot Trail Relay Race early in 2006. Even while eating whatever the Hell I wanted I dropped pounds.
Now I have set a goal of running the Moncton Legs For Literacy Half in November. So I can use the training for this as a method to shed pounds and stay active. But also if I control my eating and slim down then my running will become easier and faster. (fingers crossed LOL).
Plus I consider myself to be a professional soldier, and my fitness level has to be at a ‘superior’ level if I am doing my job correctly.
5) The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) – I can see the confused looks now. NO! I am not training to be a cage fighter, at all. However, I am a big fan of watching the UFC. And in doing so on my return home I had an AHA!!! moment. The vast majority of fighters who are my height fight in the 155 lb category. Granted the majority of these fighter are elite athletes, both very muscular and less than 10% body fat. But if you consider the fighters who are my weight they were either short and the size of the Incredible Hulk or they were at least half a foot taller than me!!
I have no illusions of being an elite athlete - but I have a vision of being athletic.
So there. Those are my reasons at the time of writing.
I have now weighed in three times, which means I have been really following the plan for two weeks. What are some of the things I have learned?
1) I ate too much shit
2) I ate too much of it.
3) Simple things like grabbing lunch at the mall can be an absolute nightmare if you are trying to stick to your points and you don’t want to ruin your count with a point laden (yummy tasty) hamburger/ pizza/ plate of deep fried Chinese food/ ice cream.
(lengthy pause here as I count to ten recounting trip to mall yesterday...)
4) Portion control.
5) Losing weight and being healthy can be relatively easy. Once you acknowledge the problem, and engage fully in the solution. Sounds tres Dr. Phil, but you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. You have to be conscious, awake, and aware of what is going on in your life.
I will continue to update as time goes on. I am sure my thoughts on “easy” will go out the window once I go back to work, or something comes up so you can laugh at me, cheer me on, or say I told you so then…
And just for shits and giggles.
14 Aug 188.6
21 Aug 187.6
28 Aug 183.8
Total two week loss 4.8 lbs. With no huge sacrifices, meaning first week I drank two nights all night, and the second week after the No Alcohol policy I had a couple huge cinnamon buns and nachos, and pizza…
Comments welcome.
Until next time....
Still with me?
Ok. I joined Weight Watchers. Three weeks ago. Now I have already dealt with the questions from various sources, and of course it makes me feel like I have to justify myself. So I will write out my reasons, not as a justification because I have no need to vindicate myself.
For the past, sheesh, eight years (off and on) I have hovered between 190-200 pounds. I have carried this weight relatively well – and there are periods when I haven’t! My face has been rounder at times; my 36-inch waist pants have ranged from loose to tight. My 32-inch pants have ranged from tight to obscene! Those who have known me a long time will know I have never been a slave to fashion and I have worn my clothes on the potato sack side of loose, so being “a little chubby” is easy to hide.
Here are the beginning stats:
14 August – 188.6. This is lower than 190 because of Afghanistan.
And in no particular order are my reasons:
1) Kara and I have a scale, it is a cool scale that is able to measure weight, body fat, hydration, and a couple other things. I currently, at the start of Weight Watchers, had a body fat percentage over 30%!! This is after a six-month tour in Afghanistan, which saw me going to the gym four to five times a week!! Granted I still made poor food choices, but I should have sweated something off right? Back when I worked at Bridgetown Junior High School the gym teacher there measured my body fat, it was 35%. So considered my weight and appearance haven’t fluctuated that much I have been consistently over 30% for the past decade!!
Healthy range is any where from 18 –25%, a good fitness level 14-17%. Given these numbers it is reason enough for me to do something. Given a bunch of calculations, which I will put in later, at 20% body fat I should get down to about 155-160 lbs.
2) My dad has a fair number of health problems, most of them exacerbated by his love-hate relationship with food. I understand that I have a genetic predisposition to these health issues. But I’ll be damned if I will help them along.
3) One of my big reasons is Kara. She is obviously one of my more favourite people. And she has struggled the last while. She has been through a lot with me away, being a single parent of two small kids. The situation has made it hard for her to build and develop a “no-fail” environment. Especially when in some ways it would mean a complete upheaval of the status quo! But in the past few years she has had tremendous successes and of course some backsliding. I know for a fact that before when she was in WW and I wasn’t I drove her absolutely crazy when I would ask her “How many points for..?” Usually the point value would shock me and then I’d eat it anyway. Leaving her glaring at me for being an asshole. I never really got it.
Or even worse instead of being her support mechanism I would actively (though not truly consciously) sabotage her with pizza and alcohol and, nachos and, and…
So now the two of us have made a commitment to this. We are both happy with this decision. There is still a bit of playful tension as I do have more points than her, which causes some friction considering we eat together most meals. But our partnership in this has led to our current 30 day “challenge” - No Alcohol For 30 Days!! (I say current 30 day challenge because I foresee more) This No Alcohol Policy was inspired by two horrendous binges we shared since my return, which sabotaged her weight again. This is a bit of a sacrifice, since I went six dry months. But it had to be done if we were going to really commit to this.
This Policy will require will power and planning, for example my boss is having a meet and greet and his house this weekend. It will not be a drunk fest but there will be casual drinking. And we will abstain. We can have fun without booze.
Anyway if Kara and I can succeed together it makes the lifestyle changes we make more likely to stick because we both bought into it.
4) Running – I am not sure if this is a reason because I am competitive, or because I am tired of sweating out bacon fat when I run!
Running is both an incentive and a method for my weight loss. One of the ‘lightest’ periods in my life that saw me in the 170s is when I trained for the Fredericton Half marathon and the Cabot Trail Relay Race early in 2006. Even while eating whatever the Hell I wanted I dropped pounds.
Now I have set a goal of running the Moncton Legs For Literacy Half in November. So I can use the training for this as a method to shed pounds and stay active. But also if I control my eating and slim down then my running will become easier and faster. (fingers crossed LOL).
Plus I consider myself to be a professional soldier, and my fitness level has to be at a ‘superior’ level if I am doing my job correctly.
5) The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) – I can see the confused looks now. NO! I am not training to be a cage fighter, at all. However, I am a big fan of watching the UFC. And in doing so on my return home I had an AHA!!! moment. The vast majority of fighters who are my height fight in the 155 lb category. Granted the majority of these fighter are elite athletes, both very muscular and less than 10% body fat. But if you consider the fighters who are my weight they were either short and the size of the Incredible Hulk or they were at least half a foot taller than me!!
I have no illusions of being an elite athlete - but I have a vision of being athletic.
So there. Those are my reasons at the time of writing.
I have now weighed in three times, which means I have been really following the plan for two weeks. What are some of the things I have learned?
1) I ate too much shit
2) I ate too much of it.
3) Simple things like grabbing lunch at the mall can be an absolute nightmare if you are trying to stick to your points and you don’t want to ruin your count with a point laden (yummy tasty) hamburger/ pizza/ plate of deep fried Chinese food/ ice cream.
(lengthy pause here as I count to ten recounting trip to mall yesterday...)
4) Portion control.
5) Losing weight and being healthy can be relatively easy. Once you acknowledge the problem, and engage fully in the solution. Sounds tres Dr. Phil, but you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. You have to be conscious, awake, and aware of what is going on in your life.
I will continue to update as time goes on. I am sure my thoughts on “easy” will go out the window once I go back to work, or something comes up so you can laugh at me, cheer me on, or say I told you so then…
And just for shits and giggles.
14 Aug 188.6
21 Aug 187.6
28 Aug 183.8
Total two week loss 4.8 lbs. With no huge sacrifices, meaning first week I drank two nights all night, and the second week after the No Alcohol policy I had a couple huge cinnamon buns and nachos, and pizza…
Comments welcome.
Until next time....
23.8.07
A Must Read on Our Success in Afghanistan
This is a rant - a well written and erudite rant posted on Army.ca. It has been reprinted here with permission of the author.
Please read it and pass the link to your friends, whether you support it or not. We will get the other side of the story heard...
"I've had enough. Consider this my rant against ignorance; my protest against agendas, half-truths, and lies. For almost two years I have been closely following the news from and about Afghanistan and it has been demoralizing to say the least. I spent a year in Kabul with the Strategic Advisory Team and watched the media only report the deaths our Forces suffered rather than the successes we (not just the SAT) achieved. I have watched "experts", editorialists, politicians, protesters, activists and pundits mangle facts, misread situations and push agendas. Most of what I have read and seen has been flawed to one degree or another. As a result many Canadians I have spoken to are wholly unaware of what we are doing there and why we are doing it. The debate has been so muddied by poor reporting and incomplete information that most people are stunned when they hear of our successes.
At the same time I have heard only reactive, ineffective whimpers from our establishment. Our government and DND in particular has done a poor job of getting the message out. Granted things are improving but you only have to look at the News Room on the DND website to see that the majority of news releases concerning Afghanistan concern the deaths and injuries we have suffered in Kandahar. In other words we are playing into the media's "if it bleeds, it leads" approach to coverage.
Here is my attempt to right some wrongs and dispel some of the misinformation out there:
1) "We cannot win in Afghanistan because insurgencies are impossible to win" I swear that if I hear one more "expert" or politician with no military experience say this I will reach through the TV and choke someone. I have spent the last three years of my life reading everything I can find on insurgencies as part of my work towards a Masters and I can tell you this - insurgencies can and have been defeated many times in the past. There are ways to defeat an insurgency and I can tell you from my study of this topic and my year of experience working at the strategic level in Afghanistan that we are doing far more right than we are wrong. Furthermore, the insurgency we face is hardly one of the most daunting ever faced. The Taliban are unlikely to ever get past Mao's first stage of insurgency and, more importantly, they lack support from much of the population. To reference Mao again, the Taliban are "fish" swimming in a very small "sea" as their support is mainly limited to one Pashtun tribe in an ethnically diverse country. NATO can defeat the Taliban and with every passing year, Kabul extends its influence and the lives of Afghans improve. This insurgency will be defeated by stability, prosperity and justice and we can see that all are improving gradually.
2) "No one has ever won in Afghanistan so we will never win" Not only does this statement display a gross ignorance of Afghan history, it also represents a laughable logical fallacy. It's akin to saying: "the Ottawa Senators didn't win the Cup last year, therefore no one will ever be
able to win the Cup!" Comparing the conscript Soviet Army to ISAF defies comprehension - every conceivable aspect of the Soviet experience differs fundamentally from our experience there. Goals, tactics, training, equipment, popular support, international legitimacy are all vastly different, to name but a few.
3) Attention editors/politicians/protesters: Afghanistan is not Iraq!
Rather than displaying your incredible ignorance of geography, history and international relations, how about you nail down this one fundamental difference? You can disagree with what's happening in Iraq while agreeing with our mission in Afghanistan and vice versa. But, you cannot use your opposition to Iraq as a basis for your opposition to Afghanistan - that's a non sequitur.
Here's a little game you can play: read articles by columnists, in on-line forums or even in the "comments" section following on-line G&M articles and you'll see something very telling. Most people opposed to our mission in Afghanistan make reference to Iraq or George W. Bush at least once when explaining why they are opposed to Afghanistan. I don't get it. Are we really
that mad with conspiracy theories that we think that our mission in Afghanistan is in some significant way related to US policy towards Iraq? A more likely explanation is that the crushing ignorance that drowns the debate on Afghanistan is the cause. People are too lazy and too poorly informed to understand the differences between Iraq and Afghanistan and those with agendas encourage this ignorance to reinforce their own arguments.
4) "All that's happening in Afghanistan is combat" Ruxted has countered this one in detail but no one seems to want to listen. What really riles me is that DND (or Foreign Affairs, or CIDA) is not just inundating the media with facts and stories about how this is simply not true. 83% of Afghans have access to medical care now where fewer than 9% did before 2001. GDP per capita has doubled and Afghanistan has the fastest growing economy in Asia. Etc., etc. These facts are all out there and available to editors and politicians and yet no one reports these facts. Why? Are they so intent on vilifying Harper that they can't report the facts? I just don't get
it.
So what?
Please, all of you who know these facts and more - talk to people.
Tell friends, family, strangers. Write letters to the editor if you can or write your MP to tell them you think these points need to be discussed. Ruxted and similar organizations are doing a great job but we all need to back them up and do our part. Consider it a grassroots effort to counter the one-sided stories in the media."
Please read it and pass the link to your friends, whether you support it or not. We will get the other side of the story heard...
"I've had enough. Consider this my rant against ignorance; my protest against agendas, half-truths, and lies. For almost two years I have been closely following the news from and about Afghanistan and it has been demoralizing to say the least. I spent a year in Kabul with the Strategic Advisory Team and watched the media only report the deaths our Forces suffered rather than the successes we (not just the SAT) achieved. I have watched "experts", editorialists, politicians, protesters, activists and pundits mangle facts, misread situations and push agendas. Most of what I have read and seen has been flawed to one degree or another. As a result many Canadians I have spoken to are wholly unaware of what we are doing there and why we are doing it. The debate has been so muddied by poor reporting and incomplete information that most people are stunned when they hear of our successes.
At the same time I have heard only reactive, ineffective whimpers from our establishment. Our government and DND in particular has done a poor job of getting the message out. Granted things are improving but you only have to look at the News Room on the DND website to see that the majority of news releases concerning Afghanistan concern the deaths and injuries we have suffered in Kandahar. In other words we are playing into the media's "if it bleeds, it leads" approach to coverage.
Here is my attempt to right some wrongs and dispel some of the misinformation out there:
1) "We cannot win in Afghanistan because insurgencies are impossible to win" I swear that if I hear one more "expert" or politician with no military experience say this I will reach through the TV and choke someone. I have spent the last three years of my life reading everything I can find on insurgencies as part of my work towards a Masters and I can tell you this - insurgencies can and have been defeated many times in the past. There are ways to defeat an insurgency and I can tell you from my study of this topic and my year of experience working at the strategic level in Afghanistan that we are doing far more right than we are wrong. Furthermore, the insurgency we face is hardly one of the most daunting ever faced. The Taliban are unlikely to ever get past Mao's first stage of insurgency and, more importantly, they lack support from much of the population. To reference Mao again, the Taliban are "fish" swimming in a very small "sea" as their support is mainly limited to one Pashtun tribe in an ethnically diverse country. NATO can defeat the Taliban and with every passing year, Kabul extends its influence and the lives of Afghans improve. This insurgency will be defeated by stability, prosperity and justice and we can see that all are improving gradually.
2) "No one has ever won in Afghanistan so we will never win" Not only does this statement display a gross ignorance of Afghan history, it also represents a laughable logical fallacy. It's akin to saying: "the Ottawa Senators didn't win the Cup last year, therefore no one will ever be
able to win the Cup!" Comparing the conscript Soviet Army to ISAF defies comprehension - every conceivable aspect of the Soviet experience differs fundamentally from our experience there. Goals, tactics, training, equipment, popular support, international legitimacy are all vastly different, to name but a few.
3) Attention editors/politicians/protesters: Afghanistan is not Iraq!
Rather than displaying your incredible ignorance of geography, history and international relations, how about you nail down this one fundamental difference? You can disagree with what's happening in Iraq while agreeing with our mission in Afghanistan and vice versa. But, you cannot use your opposition to Iraq as a basis for your opposition to Afghanistan - that's a non sequitur.
Here's a little game you can play: read articles by columnists, in on-line forums or even in the "comments" section following on-line G&M articles and you'll see something very telling. Most people opposed to our mission in Afghanistan make reference to Iraq or George W. Bush at least once when explaining why they are opposed to Afghanistan. I don't get it. Are we really
that mad with conspiracy theories that we think that our mission in Afghanistan is in some significant way related to US policy towards Iraq? A more likely explanation is that the crushing ignorance that drowns the debate on Afghanistan is the cause. People are too lazy and too poorly informed to understand the differences between Iraq and Afghanistan and those with agendas encourage this ignorance to reinforce their own arguments.
4) "All that's happening in Afghanistan is combat" Ruxted has countered this one in detail but no one seems to want to listen. What really riles me is that DND (or Foreign Affairs, or CIDA) is not just inundating the media with facts and stories about how this is simply not true. 83% of Afghans have access to medical care now where fewer than 9% did before 2001. GDP per capita has doubled and Afghanistan has the fastest growing economy in Asia. Etc., etc. These facts are all out there and available to editors and politicians and yet no one reports these facts. Why? Are they so intent on vilifying Harper that they can't report the facts? I just don't get
it.
So what?
Please, all of you who know these facts and more - talk to people.
Tell friends, family, strangers. Write letters to the editor if you can or write your MP to tell them you think these points need to be discussed. Ruxted and similar organizations are doing a great job but we all need to back them up and do our part. Consider it a grassroots effort to counter the one-sided stories in the media."
20.8.07
It's been awhile.
Hello all.
My apologies as this post will lack wit and well...wit.
I will also apologize for the long delay in the reading material posted here. I am home now safe and sound and thank you to all who followed and supported the journey.
I will be posting about my final days in KAF soon as I put it all together.
But to recap.
New house - moving soon!
Back to work - happening soon!
Back at running - sweating soon!
See you all soon.
My apologies as this post will lack wit and well...wit.
I will also apologize for the long delay in the reading material posted here. I am home now safe and sound and thank you to all who followed and supported the journey.
I will be posting about my final days in KAF soon as I put it all together.
But to recap.
New house - moving soon!
Back to work - happening soon!
Back at running - sweating soon!
See you all soon.
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